The Dragon Shinobi
by Shinobi no Ryu
Summary: A runaway shinobi, an angel with broken wings. How can these two stand against the evil that threatens Konoha while its hyperactive hero is away? Sakura/OC. Rating is for violence, language and possible lime. ON HIATUS.
1. Thundering Roar

_Disclaimer:__ I do not own Naruto in any shape or form, nor do I profit from this_

_ fanfiction. I only own my character Saitou. _

It's hard to imagine that anyone would actually choose to live in Kumogakure. Lightning Country is infamous for it's peculiar geography and dangerous climate. The entire nation is almost nothing but a rocky, desolate wasteland – a by product of the constant lightning storms. Out of three-hundred-and-sixty-five days in the year, we have an average two-hundred days of storms. It would at least help if we got rain, but that wasn't common.

The village's construction reflected the landscape around it. Buildings are either built into, or carved out of the mountainside the village is nestled under. Some structures are even precariously balanced onto stone pillars.

To me, they always seemed extremely dangerous, but apparently, are rock steady. I still haven't had to enter one of those buildings and I'll be damned if I ever do.

To help defend – and conveniently power the city, large towering steel rods stand vigilant high above the village. Any lightning that would strike the village hit the rods, creating a shower of sparks that rained down on the people passing by it.

To survive in such a harsh environment, power and brutality is key.

Although I never liked that policy myself, the villagers and other shinobi reflected this truth. Politeness is only used if you are addressing a higher ranked member of society or ninja. But, the one person every ninja and villager bows to and respects is the Raikage. Of course this is forced, not a choice.

The Raikage – a gigantic man with a temper to match his size. He rules with an iron fist and believes that strength is paramount over anything else. He's been known to slaughter even his personal ANBU guard, if they ever so much as breathed on him wrong. He gives no quarter to ninja or civilian and expects his shinobi army to reflect that. As there are with many rules, there is an exception to this one; Me.

That is the reason why I now stand in front of the feared Raikage. He easily dwarfs me, his massive frame slouched back into a chair only he could fill.

From what I've seen of the other Kages, ours was a unique one – the only exception perhaps being Konoha's Gondaime.

The Raikage weighed a massive three-hundred-and-fifty pounds, all muscle. He was proud of his figure and showed it, always opting to go without a shirt. He wore only the Raikage hat, the robe – which was left unfastened – and white pants. His skin was a dark tone, which brought out his currently rage filled eyes.

His little black beads for pupils bore into my own, he seemed to be barely containing his rage as he decided what to _sentence _me to – if I had to guess.

My crime was simple, yet unforgivable to the ruthless Kage.

My last mission had been a success, to me. I was to hunt down and bring the heads back of three shinobi whom had deserted our village. I was given no information as to the rank or age of these ninja, but I wasn't too concerned. Tracking them was an easy task, even in rocky terrain. They were sloppy in covering their tracks, which started to make me believe that these were either bad ninja, or young ones. My latter assumption was unfortunately correct, I came upon them the first night of their disappearance. I was almost sickened by who my _targets_ were. Three genin that barely looked old enough to of graduated from the academy. Their group consisted of two females and a male, all huddled around a small campfire, looking tired and frightened.

I'm glad I was the one assigned that mission. I doubt any of my comrades would of given them the mercy I had. I clearly made my presence known as I came from behind my hiding spot, causing the the three genin to jump to their feet. Old, dull kunai gripped in their fists, ready to fight to the death. I felt truly sorry for them. Life in our village was harsh, it wasn't uncommon to have genin try and run. After calming them down, I explained that I had no intention of hurting them and wanted to do the exact opposite. It took a few tries, but they knew if I had wanted to kill them I would have already.

After giving them some food and water I got them to relinquish their headbands, which now laid out in front of the Raikage.

The Raikage's nostrils flared and he exhaled violently through them. "So explain to me again why you didn't bring back their _heads _ as I instructed!?"

His tone was overly harsh, but it didn't phase me. I've been chewed out like this plenty of times. I had to keep myself from grinning, even if the cloth covering my mouth would hide it.

I'd rather not let the Raikage know how much I loved pissing him off. Even as dangerous and foolhardy it is.

"As I reported, Raikage-sama, I'd rather not behead _children._" I couldn't keep the disgust out of my tone as I voiced the last word.

The Raikage slammed his huge fist down onto his desk, making another crack into the already abused furniture.

One of the headbands jumped off the desk and fell to the floor because of his outburst.

"_HOW DARE YOU SPEAK TO ME LIKE THAT! IF I COMMAND YOU TO KILL AND BEHEAD THE ENTIRE ACADAMY YOU WILL DO IT!"_ he roared, the windows vibrating from it.

Thanks to his incredible lung strength, my ears were now ringing slightly.

The Raikage was now visibly outraged, on the verge of spontaneous combustion from the look of it.

Not that it would be a bad thing; just funny as hell.

"As you say, Raikage-sama." I replied, just wanting to get this over with.

The Raikage seemed to calm somewhat, although his breathing was still violent. Slowly, he stood up and turned his back to me, staring out the window that stretched across the wall behind his desk.

"You are a valuable asset to this country, Dragon Ninja. I would hate to have you executed simply for being a fool. Disobey me again and your life will end. Is that clear?"

"Yes, Raikage-sama."

The Raikage turned to face me once more, his face oddly calm. He sat down again in his chair, and started at me with an unreadable expression.

"I had hoped you would have taken care of these three deserters yourself, but I took a precaution."

I could feel the blood drain from my face, as the possibilities of what his statement could of meant hit me. My right hand began trembling slightly as I prayed he didn't mean what I thought he did.

"You may enter now," Raikage said, calling to an unseen person.

Hearing the door open behind me, I didn't want to turn to look. I heard three sets of footsteps walk up behind me, and stop at my side. I bit my lip as I looked down towards the other shinobi and had to muffle a scream.

The three ninja were ANBU – black-ops ninja. All held white sacks that had a noticeable blood stain on the bottom of it.

On one bag I could almost make out the face of the male genin whom I had tried to save not six hours earlier.

One of the ANBU stepped forward, presumably the squad leader. He wore a mask that resembled a eagle. "Raikage-sama, we did as you commanded, after following Saitou-san at a considerable distance we found the three genin. They were still alive but missing their headbands, we killed them and brought the proper proof." Upon finishing his report, I could barely contain my rage as I watched him reach into the sack. I looked away, not wanting to see the head. After a moment, I could hear the Raikage's approval and dismissal of the three. I still didn't bring my head back up to look the Raikage in the eyes. I still can barely contain my anger.

"_That,_ is how I expect your future missions to turn out. One-hundred percent completion and success. If another incident like this one occurs, I will kill you myself. Are we clear?" he asked, resting his head on his fist.

". . . yes, Raikage-sama." I managed to say, trying to keep the rage out of my voice.

"Then you're dismissed."

I didn't let him finish his sentence before I teleported out of the room by shushin. I was on the verge of tears I was so frustrated.

Now on the roof of the Raikage tower, I looked out over the village and felt contempt. Contempt for the Raikage, for the shinobi who followed him and the villagers who lived under his rule. I wouldn't have it, not anymore. I've been tired of constantly having to bend to the tyrannical rule of the Raikage. I took a deep breath as I stepped to the edge of the tower, looking down at the ground below. _I'll leave all this behind . . . or I'll die. _

I let myself fall forward, feeling the wind start to whip across my entire body as I freely fell from the tower. Faster and faster I soared, the ground quickly coming up. I quickly used the shushin jutsu again, transporting to the ground a few feet from where I would of hit the ground. Thanks to the physics bending power of the jutsu, I was unharmed.

Villagers gave me a startled look; they must have been sure I was attempting suicide. I paid them no mind, however, as I walked into the crowd of people towards my apartment. I was going to leave the village behind me, but to where and how was still up in the wind.

The smell of an instant dinner began to waft through the air as I leaned up against my kitchen counter top. I'm actually not too bad of a cook but I seldom felt like cooking, unless I had company. So, I usually just ate frozen foods – one of which was now slowly rotating in the microwave. I watched it cook with little interest, my mind elsewhere.

The issue of leaving my home country was not so much a question of if, rather when and how. I had thought of a few options, some better than others. Defecting to another village was usually a risky business, unless you had something the other country would want. Out of all the hidden villages, only Konohagakure and Sunagakure sounded even remotely possible for me. Any of the other villages would be too much like Cloud.

The microwave beeped twice, alerting me that my dinner was finished. Taking it from the machine, I grabbed a fork and sat down, slowly eating my food.

On the one hand, Konoha was well known for it's peaceful ways and beliefs. If you asked any Cloud-nin however, they would say the opposite. I suppose it was more a conflict of interest rather than anything else. But to be honest, it's hard to believe any village could be as pure or happy as Konoha was told to be. Not to mention the popular rumors of their Hokage really being some kind of demon.

_Couldn't be any worse than our own. _

Then there was Suna, a village that had been much like ours up until the newest Kazekage took power. From the little reports we did have on the new state of the village, it seemed to be at peace for the most part. But there was trouble that seemed to brew right under the surface. No village can change that fast, even if their Kazekage is a jinchuuriki. And I don't particularity want to move to such a sandy place. You get sand in places you don't want it.

Then, I could always quit my ninja career and live out the rest of my days as a farmer or something similar. I chuckled at that thought; I still shower with a kunai in the bathtub. Being a ninja wasn't just a career choice, it's who I am.

Before I fully realized it, I was sitting on the edge of my bed in my dark bedroom. Staring out my window, I sighed, wondering when it was that my life had gotten so complicated. When I had been a genin, I never thought about my country or its harsh militaristic outlook. The only care I had was my two teammates – my friends.

I glanced over at my bed stand, where one of my most precious items sit. It was a framed picture of three boys sitting down, their faces beet red and sheepish. Behind them was their Jonin sensei, a beautiful vixen who was blowing a kiss to the camera. I turned my gaze away from the picture. I couldn't think about them tonight.

Dangerous and unwanted feelings began to swell in my heart. It's always like this when it rains; my memories will never let me be.

Straighting my self onto the bed, I settle under the covers and continue to stare out the window of my small room. _Konoha. . . that's where I'll go to. _

Tomorrow would be the day I would leave this village behind and start my life anew. I sighed, almost contently, as I rolled away from the window and fell asleep.

The next night wouldn't come quick enough, not to mention I felt like I was being watched most of the day. I hope it was only my paranoia, that there was no way the Raikage or anyone else could suspect me leaving. I hadn't ever voiced my want to defect. If I had, I'd be dead by now.

I packed very lightly, only enough to fill a small backpack. A few dehydrated food items, a couple of water bottles, and all of my ninja tools; well, not _all _of them. My apartment was littered with secret compartments that hid kunai, shuriken, a katana, and other weapons. I hoped other ninja had weapons hidden in their homes to defend themselves as well, otherwise I was just crazy.

Then I entered my bedroom and looked at the small photo on my bed stand. A part of me almost wanted to leave it. It was the source of both good and bad memories for me. It seemed like I stood in place for a while, just staring at the picture while feelings of indecision ran through me. I finally walked across the room and grabbed the frame. Gently, I pulled out the picture and couldn't help but smile. I placed it in my backpack and put the frame back down. If I ran into resistance while trying to run, I'd rather take a chance of the picture getting wrinkled slightly rather than cut by broken glass.

Now there was one last item I needed to attend to. On the bed lied my Cloud forehead protector. I grabbed it and glared at it, hating the symbol etched into it. I reached behind me and grasped my katana. It was a trend for most missing-nin to scratch out their village's symbol on the forehead protector. I wanted no part of this thing any longer. Throwing it up I quickly drew my katana, the blade singing as it left the sheath. Using precise aim, I cut perfectly down the center – making it fall to the ground in halves. I smiled triumphantly at the severed symbol, knowing now that what I was about to do was irreversible.

I had everything I needed. Opening my bedroom window, I looked out across the empty streets of Cloud one last time, knowing I wouldn't see it again. A small feeling of sadness hit me, the knowledge of leaving my childhood home depressing. But the feeling of leaving the tyrannical rule of the Raikage was stronger, it gave me resolve. Leaping out my window, I landed on a nearby roof and started sprinting from roof to roof. I knew where the guards would be patrolling, since I had been on more than one guard duty. Falling into a dark alleyway, I crouched down and masked my chakra. Staring up at the roof, I saw two Jonin land upon the roof above me. They looked around and then quickly sprinted off again. Waiting a moment, I jumped back unto the roof and continued my way through the village towards the southern gate. I had no problem moving from patrol to patrol.

Reaching the wall, I quickly formed the hand seal for shushin and appeared on the top. No sooner than I had landed, I used the jutsu again to warp to the rocky ground below. I wasted no time as began running as fast as I could towards the south-east, the general direction of Konoha. I could follow roads later, but until I was sure I'd be safe of any pursuers, I would continue this way.

Soon, the light of the city was gone, and the only illumination I had to guide me was the stars. Easy enough, most ninja could navigate in little to no light.

It felt like I had been running for more than half an hour, when I soon felt danger rear it's ugly head. I stopped underneath a small rock out cropping, pressing my back to the wall. I knew the feeling that was shooting up my spine – I had been followed.

"Show yourself!" I yelled.

I stared out into the darkness, my senses fully alert for anything dangerous. Soon, I noticed three black masses begin to materialize from the ground almost thirty feet away from me. The black masses soon took the shape of men – men whom distinctly looked like ANBU. To be more precise, Hunter-nins.

Hunter-nin's were the ninja who hunted down missing ninjas from their village as to regain any secrets they may have taken with them, or to just prevent another village from gaining the rogue ninja.

_Damn, how the hell did they know what I was doing? _There was no way that the Raikage could have known, nor have I told anyone. So why?!

"Saitou Kiryu, by order of Raikage-sama, you are to be executed for deserting the village. Do you have anything to say for yourself?" the Hunter in the middle asked, taking a step forward. His voice was calm and cold, expectant of any ANBU.

"Yes, just one question. How the hell did you know what I was up to?"

The Hunter-nin remained silent, seeming to decide whether or not to answer me. Finally, he spoke, "Raikage-sama foresaw your defection and had us watch you since yesterday."

_He could either read me better than I thought, or I didn't hide my rage well enough yesterday. Well, either way there's no point in thinking about it. Time to fight or die. _I quickly reached back towards my katana, my hand resting on its hilt.

The Hunters were just as fast, grasping kodachis that were secured sideways behind their hips.

I moved my gaze between the three of them, trying to asses whom would attack first. I hid my hand behind my back, mimicking like I was grabbing my sword, but I had it in the seal for substitution jutsu. All I had to do was supply the chakra.

They moved faster than I had anticipated, all three with their weapons ready to pierce my chest. But I was still faster and felt myself get pulled away from them, being replaced by a large boulder. Not allowing them any time to react, I dashed forward and cut the Hunter in the middle across the back, his agonized groan accompanied with a spray of warm blood.

Before the other two reacted, I used the shushin jutsu to teleport a small distance away. The moment I re-materialized, I thrust my sword into the ground and quickly began forming the hand seals for a powerful jutsu. I could feel the all too familiar chakra begin to course through my body as I concentrated.

The remaining Hunter-nins turned their gaze unto me a moment too late, I had finished forming the chakra needed for my jutsu.

"Lightning style: Lightning Dragon Multi-Missile!" I yelled out, and thrust my arm forward. In the blink of an eye, three, small dragon-shaped, lightning bolts flew from hand and swiftly flew across the field. The two attempted to jump away to avoid the attack, but I had learned how to move the dragons to my will.

As they jumped, I made the dragons follow them exactly. I sent two to the left, and one to the right. They were both hit square on the chest by the deadly attack. The Hunter-nin on the left simply fell to the ground, limp and lifeless, his heart having exploded in the massive jolt. The other, however, hit the ground and began rolling around in excruciating pain. His body couldn't take the shock and he was entering cardiac arrest. I yanked my katana out of the ground and walked over to the last survivor.

The surviving Hunter glared at me, his mask having fallen off when he was hit. He seemed to be trying to say something to me and judging by what he was mouthing to me, it was probably 'bastard'.

"Nothing personal, but no one will stop me from leaving _that _place." I raised my sword in the air, knowing I couldn't leave someone alive from my old village who might even guess as to where I was going.

His face never changed, even when his life left his body. An eternal expression of hatred towards me.

I had seen the look before on other ninja whom I'd killed. This one however. . . seemed to be stronger than the others.

_ Because at one time you were comrades, _my subconscious spoke for me. I shook my head as I flicked my blade with a downward motion, the blood flying off it. I never chose them to be my comrades. As I moved away from the three corpses I only walked, knowing I wouldn't have any other pursuers.

* * * *

The rising sun came as it always did, from the east. After setting up camp in a small ravine, I found I couldn't sleep for more than thirty-minutes at a time. I finally gave up about an hour before sunrise and started off again.

Now, I stood upon a cliff that overlooked the Country of Grass – aptly named, as a large grassy plain greeted me. After crossing here, I would be in the Country of Fire. Relief coursed through me as I thought of it. While there was always a chance they wouldn't accept me, possibly even going so far as to turn me back over, It would be better than my current predicament.

Staring at the orange sun that brought in the new day, I was suddenly reminded of something my father used to tell me – before he passed on.

'The dawn is destined to chase away the darkness, my son.'

I used to think it was just something really cool to say when the sun would rise, but I soon realized the wisdom behind his words. No matter how bad things seemed, they would always come to an end. Even if it seemed like an eternity, it was destined to change. A truth that comforted me every time I saw the sunrise.

"And so, dawn has come again." I said smiling, before taking a final glance at the sun to confirm my direction. Then, I jumped down towards the Country of Grass to begin running again.

* * * *

If I had to guess as to why the Country of Fire was named so, I suppose because of the sweltering heat that mercilessly assaulted me. Fanning myself didn't help any, neither did removing my scarf or the cloth covering my face. So I simply had to bear it – have to get used to it.

It hadn't been long after leaving the Country of Grass that I entered a forest. I soon found that the rumors surrounding Fire Country were correct. It was almost a nonstop sea of trees. Besides the odd open plain and clearing, I was almost always surrounded by forest. Something I wasn't used to from the rocky wasteland of Lightning Country. I definitely preferred the trees.

What really surprised me about this country is that they had roadsigns directing people towards Konoha. Now, it wasn't exactly uncommon knowledge as to where _Hidden _Villages were in each country, but it certainly wasn't advertised. It made my travel easier however, as I had no clue where the village was before then.

I had been fantasizing for the past few days now as to what the village would be like. Would the rumors of it being a peaceful, happy village be true; Or would it be the same? I even had thoughts of maybe being able to find a nice kunoichi to be able to settle down with and have a family one day. Something I had always wanted.

My daydreams were cut short however, as I soon felt the hairs on the back of my neck raise. Normally, that meant something was watching me. Without a sound being made, I was suddenly surrounded by four ninja, whom I guessed were ANBU by the masks they wore. Before I had a chance to say anything an ANBU in a eagle mask spoke up, directly in front of me.

"State your purpose for being here, you're no civilian," he started, tilting his head as though he was looking for something. "Yet you're not wearing a forehead protector, who are you?"

I slowly raised my hands in the 'I surrender' position. "I'm no enemy, I'm – _was _ a ninja from Hidden Cloud, but I recently went rogue. I've come to Konoha to ask your Hokage if she would take me in." I prayed they wouldn't just attack me here. But, if they were going to do that, they probably would of already.

The eagle ANBU walked closer to me, as to try and see if I was lying. After a moment he nodded. "Very well. . . I'll bring you to the Hokage. But be warned, if this is a trick, you will be cut down without hesitation," he warned.

I nodded quickly, not having anything of the sort in mind.

He turned towards the other ANBU and spoke up, "The rest of you continue the patrol, I'll rejoin you when I can." They all responded with a grunt and disappeared again. He then turned towards me and nodded his head towards the south, as to have me follow him. He jumped off into the trees and I kept pace, following him.

Soon, Konohagakure came into view. It's massive walls quite a wonder to see. I had thought Cloud's wall was strong but this looked near indestructible. As we went into the village, I couldn't help but keep my head on a swivel as I watched all of the people and ninja go about their lives. Unlike my old village, these people seemed genuinely _happy. _No stern faces or oppressed looks could be seen from my view.

It didn't take me long to figure out where our final destination was. A gigantic red tower that loomed over the village. It clearly displayed the fire kanji on the front of the building.

As my ANBU escort led me into the tower, I was reminded of the rumors surrounding the Hokage. I almost froze mid-step, my imagination creating a clash between a female Hokage and Enma, the keeper of hell's gates. If I wasn't accepted, I would be sent to hell – or in my case die. If I was found worthy, I would instead be sent to heaven by this Hokage Enma.

_Well, maybe not heaven, that would have beautiful naked kunoichi serving me sake. _I couldn't help but grin at the mental picture in my perverted head. I tried to avoid those thoughts, but my sensei definitely managed to twist my mind at a young age.

Before I had a chance to go any further, I noticed my escort had stopped. He knocked on the door and I soon heard a loud female voice come from behind it.

"Enter."

I took a large gulp as the ANBU opened the door. I almost wanted to close my eyes as I entered, praying I wouldn't see Hokage Enma.

Stepping into the bright room, I tried to look away from where I knew the Hokage would be. Unfortunately, I knew that would be bad manners so I instead to meet my fate head on and look her in the eyes. I certainly wasn't expecting what I saw at all.

Sitting in front of me was a rather beautiful woman with light skin, blonde hair that was held back into two ponytails and piercing orange eyes. She also had the most peculiar tattoo on her forehead. The most outstanding feature of her however, was her enormous breasts – they were easily F cups; if there was such a thing.

_Must be where all the demon rumors come from._

I noticed my ANBU escort kneel and bow his head as he began to speak. "Hokage-sama, I encountered this shinobi while on patrol in the northern woods. He claims to be a missing-nin from Kumogakure and wishes to join Konoha."

The Hokage's eyebrow arched slowly as the report went on. It worried me, but I hoped it was just because they don't get this often. She turned her questioning gaze towards me.

"A missing-nin from Kumo? Why have you defected from them and why have you come here?" her tone was suspicious and low, not that I could blame her.

I straightened up and bowed, before raising back up. Being respectful certainly wouldn't be a bad thing. "Hokage-sama, I would first thank you for hearing me out. The reason I left Kumogakure is because I could no longer stand it. Our Raikage is harsh and overly brutal. Seven days ago, I was sent on a mission to hunt and kill three deserters from Kumo. I found them, they were all genin. I didn't kill them, I only asked for their headbands and sent them on their way." I paused, to try and gauge the Hokage's reaction from my story. So far it was neutral. "That next day, I was called into the Raikage's office, where I was throughly chewed out for not bringing back the heads of these three children. He then called in three ANBU whom. . ." I trailed off, trying to bring myself to recount what happened. But, I could only envision the horrified expression of the severed head I saw through the sack.

"It's okay, you can skip that part." The Hokage said, her voice having small hint of sympathy for me. I smiled and nodded my thanks.

"That was the final straw, I could no longer serve a Kage whom wanted me to slay children. So, after going through my options, I chose Konoha." I finished up, my heart now beating fast as I prayed she would say yes.

The Hokage nodded as she pulled open a drawer on her desk and began searching for something. "Well. . . I can't give you a definite yes on whether or not I can grant you citizenship here, I am not the only one who decides these things."

I nodded, although I could only frown as I pondered what that might entail.

"But, I can say that I will try as hard as I can for them to accept you."

Hope swelled in my chest as I stared into her eyes. "Thank you, Hokage-sama!" I almost yelled as I bowed again.

She only smiled as she finally pulled out the paper she was looking for and began to fill it out. "For now, we have to go through the first stages," she pulled the pen she was writing with away from the paper and pointed at the ANBU with it. "He will take you to see Ibiki Moreno. He is the ANBU's interrogation and intelligence special-jonin. It won't be anything bad, but if you are hiding anything he _will _find out." I could hear the warning in her words, as she almost seemed to dare me to have an ulterior motive.

I only thanked her again, as I followed my escort once more out into the hallway. I glanced back only once towards the Hokage, silently praying I'd be accepted.

To say that Ibiki Moreno was a. . . _skilled _interrogator would do him little justice. There have been very few times in my life where I knew either real pain or fear. Ibiki gave me a new memory of pain.

When the interrogation first began, I wasn't worried. He asked me random questions, some having to do with me being a ninja, others simply about my personal life. After a while, his mood turned rather sour, as well did his questioning. He began using genjutsu to try and pry the truth out of me. Of course he got the same answers I told him.

Then, he began getting physical.

I shuddered at the mere remembrance of it. I left that small dark basement with new scars, both physical and mental. After it was all said and done however, he assured me that he would give the jonin council – a council that helped decide on runaways like myself – his full reassurance that I was no threat and genuinely wanted to defect. That made it worthwhile to me. I had also been hoping for some sort of apology from the scarred, scary ninja, but received none. Probably because he enjoyed this sort of thing.

_Sadists, ugh. _

After being released from the interrogation room, I was told I could walk about the town if I wanted. There were of course, strict rules as to where I could and could not go. I couldn't visit the academy, the library, any ninja clan compounds, training grounds, etc. Basically, wherever I could possibly learn any secrets of Konoha.

I was then told to return later, so I could be escorted to my temporary housing. From what Ibiki told me, it was an apartment complex on the western edge of town. They saved one or two of the apartments for ninja like me.

I rather disliked the way Ibiki had phrased that, _ninja like me. _The man had said it with a tone of contempt. I couldn't entirely blame him though. In the ninja world loyalty was a complicated concept. I didn't bother trying to defend myself however, for I had no need to, nor did I want to. No matter how ecstatic I was that I was free of Kumogakure and the Raikage, memories of earlier years made me miss my home village.

I could only wonder though if _she _would do the same thing I had, if our roles were reversed.

I quickly de-railed that train of thought, I wasn't in the mood to think about _her_; I rarely ever was.

After having all my gear confiscated – something most certainly didn't approve of, while I wasn't defenseless, I felt naked without my katana – I was led outside the Hokage tower.

The sun shined brightly upon the bustling village, warming the bodies of every man, woman, and child. It was quite a change from the constant dreary weather of Kumogakure.

I strolled about the town with almost child-like amazement. The atmosphere was much nicer here than my former home. I was also pleasantly surprised with all the different restaurants I passed by. In Kumo, we had very little in the way of choice of what we ate. Our entire nation was a harsh climate, so we could only grow what was possible.

Not to mention trade with other nations made it hard. The prices of goods like fish and herbs were through the roof. Thanks to the fact that the land was hard to traverse and the near constant threat of lightning storms. So I was used to only eating rice and very few vegetables.

So when I stepped into a street lined with various food carts and restaurants, my mouth began to fill with saliva as I smelt all the different foods and spices. As I wandered the street I began thinking back to all the foods I'd eaten on missions to other countries. There was one in particular I'd craved since I had it. It was a delicious food that was made of rice, vegetables and raw fish.

If only I could remember the name!

"Sir, would you like to try some sushi? I promise Akibara's has the best in Konoha!" I heard a female barker call to me from across the street.

It felt as though the mental wall blocking my memory was suddenly shattered by large wrecking ball. I whipped my head around to the girl, maybe too fast seeing her shocked expression.

"You have sushi here?" I asked, trying to keep the excitement out of my voice.

I strained to look past her and into the restaurant. It's sliding doors were wide open, I could see past the cloth curtains and into the store. There, on a customer's plate I could see the delectable food I'd craved for months.

"Yes sir, we do, just step inside and someone can seat you!" She replied, her voice making it evident she tried to look past my crazy expression.

I thanked her and walked past her, my mouth now even more flooded with saliva than I thought possible. I barely registered being seated as I could only focus on my goal. I was a man possessed and _dammit_, I wanted sushi!

Leaving the restaurant, I couldn't tell if the chef was crying because of how much I ate, or how much money he just made. Heh, either way I was certain to get a good reaction when next I came. And come again I would, that was some of the best damn. . .

My thoughts slowly drifted away as my eyes caught a flash of pink in the midst of the lightly crowded street. I was intrigued to say the least, pink was not a common hair color.

Then before me, the sea of people parted for what I could only describe as an angel. There was no other way to put it, the woman who walked down the street was breathtaking. As she neared me, I stopped and my eyes began taking in everything about her.

Her hair was indeed pink and cut short, just above her shoulders. She wore a Konoha headband in her hair, signifying she was a kunoichi. Her face was perfectly rounded and full – womanly. Her eyes were a bright green, almost the color of pure jade. But there was something. . . sad, about them. Her walk also suggested what her eyes told. As much as she tried to hide it, I could see something was bothering the woman. Her fists were slightly clenched, but her face remained neutral. Her pink lips were slightly drawn downwards, another indicator.

Even with her clear melancholy, I couldn't help but be amazed by her beauty.

Then, as soon as I had noticed her, she passed by me. I swore I could smell the slightest hint of cherry blossoms from how close I had been to her.

I turned as she walked by, trying to remember every inch of her as she disappeared into the crowd once more. I almost felt despair as I watched her leave.

I had seen beautiful women before, but none had such an impact on me. A fact that confused and somewhat irritated me. Why was it that this woman's sad face haunted me so?

I could start to feel eyes on me, as villagers tried to avoid me as they walked. I began walking again towards my destination, knowing it wouldn't do to be a roadblock. But, my mind was still frozen in time to no less than ten seconds before, when I had seen the sad angel.

I found myself unexplainably yearning for her again, praying I would at least get a glimpse of her once more.


	2. Village of the Dammned

Author's Notes: I should have put this in the first chapter, but I forgot to and too lazy to change it =P. This story is set during the end of the three years Naruto was gone during his training trip with Jiraya.

First off, I'd like to thank anyone who reviews my story, and criticism is appreciated and welcome. Even flames! They keep me warm at night. I'll try to remember to thank every person who reviews my fic, I love reading them.

SasoLOVE111 – Thank you for your kind words and being my first review! You are awesome.

(*) When you see one of these, it'll be something I'll explain in greater detail at the end of the chapter.

As a final note, I want to mention I love the Shushin jutsu. Which if I'm not mistaken, is the technique that teleports one leaving a leaf and smoke behind. If I use it too much, throw things at me. I've been known to over abuse things. *looks at pet rock shaking in the corner*

Pet Rock: ". . ."

Yeah, it knows.

I yawned as I waited outside the Hokage's office. That's the nice thing about having a mask over your mouth, no need to cover it with your hand. I had a hard time sleeping last night, for some reason I can't comprehend, I couldn't get that pink-haired kunoichi out of my mind. Or why she was so sad.

My imagination stirred up plenty of reasons, of course.

Maybe she had some life threating disease she had just found out about? Or perhaps it was as simple as breaking up with her boyfriend. She might even be one of those ghosts you hear about in urban legends that lure men to secluded spots, then drag their souls to hell!

Either way it had to of been bad.

My thoughts were cut short as I noticed the Hokage's door open. A rather young – and beautiful – woman stepped out. She had black hair and eyes, I recognized her as the Hokage's assistant. Shizune, I think her name is.

"The Hokage will see you now." She said to me, her voice reflecting her polite nature.

I thanked her and walked by, entering the slightly darkened office. It was still early in the morning and the sun had yet to light it up.

"Saitou, come over here." I heard the Gondaime order. She had a neutral look on her face, I didn't know if that was a good thing or bad.

The Raikage had two faces, neutral-angry and I'm-going-to-rip-you-a-new-one. So I wasn't quite sure what to make of her.

I walked up to her desk and gave her a bow in respect.

She smiled and nodded. "I have good news, the jonin council has agreed to allow you citizenship, the village elders too have agreed."

I could barely contain my joy, as I felt my mouth involuntarily grow into a grin. All my worry had been for naught the few days before.

"But," she continued; that wiped the look off my face. "I have still yet to agree to it."

I quickly shut my mouth before I could put my foot into it, I had to compose a rational and respectful response to that. "Why is that Hokage-sama? Is there. . . something wrong with your assessment of me?" I hoped that sounded good.

The Hokage shook her head, which relieved me somewhat. "Not exactly, I just have a question about your background." She started, then grabbed the manila folder in front of her. "Are you the one Kumo refers to as the 'Dragon Shinobi'?"

_Crap._ I should of known my face was in the bingo book. I was wanted from Kirigakure to Iwagakure now. It had completely skipped my mind when I was choosing what village to defect to. As soon as I had left the village my status as a missing-nin would of been updated in the bingo book.

I stared at the Gondaime my breath caught in my throat. Was she planning on collecting on the bounty on my head?

She watched me intensely, awaiting my response. I could see she was getting impatient.

I sighed and nodded, "yes Hokage-sama, that's me." I closed my eyes, awaiting her response. I didn't see it being a good one.

"I see, well then I'm glad that's cleared up. You look a lot younger in this picture." She paused, "I'm also not turning your head in for the bounty if that's what's got you so worried."

I opened my eyes and let out a breath I hadn't realized I'd been holding.

She seemed amused by my reaction and continued. "The reason I wanted to know, was so that I'd be sure I was accepting a powerful ninja into Konoha."

I felt my face warm up, much to my chagrin. I was proud of my moniker, that's true; but having people compliment me on it was still embarrassing.  
"Welcome." She simply said as she held out a Leaf forehead protector. Seeing the etched leaf symbol on the gleaming metal gave me a sense that I was finally going to get to start over.

Before I had time to gush or thank the Hokage again, I heard a light knock on the door.

"Enter." The Gondaime responded.

I turned my head, expecting to see a new face. Instead I was surprised to see the beautiful angel that had taken over my thoughts the night before. My mouth fell slightly agape as she neared me. She was even more amazing up close.

"Tsunade-sensei, you called for me?" the angel asked, her voice enough to make me shudder. Why did this woman have this effect on me?

"I did, I have a B-Rank mission for you Sakura. Do you think you can handle it?"

Sakura. That was her name; it fit her.

". . . no, Tsunade-sama. I can handle it." Sakura replied, her voice seemed rigid but confident.

Tsunade nodded and reached over for a scroll handing it to Sakura.

She broke the seal on the scroll and began to read it, her mouth moving silently as she examined it. I couldn't help but watch her, trying not to get caught staring.

"Saitou," the Hokage started, making my attention snap to her. "I want you to accompany Sakura on her mission. Is there a problem with that?"

And there went my heart.

"N-no, not at all Hokage-sama." I mentally cursed at my stutter. I hoped Sakura wouldn't think anything weird about it.

The corner of her mouth twitched up, but quickly set back into a neutral look.

"Good, Sakura this is Saitou Kiryu. He's a new Jonin whom defected from Kumogakure. He'll be accompanying you on this mission. I hope you're alright with that."

Sakura looked at me, her eyes seeming to examine me for a short moment before looking back towards the Hokage. It put me off slightly, was she just sizing me up? It almost looked like she was comparing me to someone for a moment too.

"No, sensei." Her voice was still neutral, it disappointed me for some reason. "But Sensei, is there not going to be a third member?" she continued.

Tsunade shook her head, "Not this time I'm afraid. Most of our ninja are out on missions, we're still too low on manpower since the Oto/Suna invasion. It pains me to send you out like this, but I'm sure you can handle it." Then, she smirked and leaned back in her chair. "After all, you are _my _'s nothing you can't handle."

That seemed to really cheer her up, as she smiled at the Gondaime and bowed. "Thank you for saying that, Sensei."

She turned towards me, her gloved hand outstretched and holding the scroll. "Here, I already memorized it. I'll meet you at the northern gates at eight AM. Is that okay?"

She spoke to me! _Dammit Kiryu, get a grip! _I was no better than a swooning teenager at the moment. I was eighteen for goodness sake. I just nodded, not being able to find my vocal cords.

She gave me a half-smile and excused herself, leaving the room.

A half-smile looked much better on her than her normal frown. I'd have to see if I could get her to do that more often.

"Kiryu-san, this is for you." I heard Shizune say, making me snap back to earth. I looked towards her, where she held a dark green vest in her arms.

"Is this your village's Jonin vest?" I asked as I took it.

"Yes, our Chunin's wear a vest similar to that one, but it's lighter in color."

I considered putting it on, but I didn't even wear Kumo's vest. I do have to admit though, Konoha had better fashion taste. I preferred my red ninja attire and black armor.(*)

The Gondaime cleared her throat with a small cough, gaining my attention. "Feel free to explore the town as you'd like, you're no longer restricted to the areas you were before. Furthermore, feel free to use the temporary apartment until you get your own place."

"Thank you Hokage-sama. . . also, when will I get my gear back?"

"I was getting to that, so impatient." She sighed, smiling as she saw my panicked look. I was so used to the Raikage's freak outs, it would take some time for my heart to get used to a sarcastic Kage.

With a snap of her fingers, a lone ANBU materialized from the floor, already in a kneeling position with my katana held is his hand. How dare he touch my sword!

The ANBU stood after a small nod from Tsunade and walked over to me with my baby outstretched. I hastily – politely, took it from him and put it back to it's rightful position on my back. He also handed over my kunai holster and shuriken pouch. I already didn't like this guy for how he manhandled Izayoi: my katana. So I counted my projectiles to make sure they were all there.

If I could see the ANBU's eyes, he was most likely rolling them at the moment.

The next morning I had woken up too early, anticipation for the upcoming mission gripping me tight. After I had gotten home, I started to read the mission scroll, wondering if the missions Konoha went on were much different from our own. B-rank missions were always somewhat bland to me. Either they were low priority assassination targets, easy espionage assignments or clearing out a camp of bandits that had grown way too big for a C-rank. It wasn't until A-rank that I really enjoyed myself.

But this mission seemed to hold some real promise for an entertaining fight. A small village about three days from Konoha (walking distance, for a ninja it wouldn't take more than a day) was begging for assistance, they claimed to be getting constantly raided by – and I quote – "large demonic spiders that are being led by a solitary ninja from an unknown village".

They had me at demonic.

Once, I had encountered one of Sunagakure's legendary and mythical sand worms that were said to range from the size of a man to a large tower. I had been fleeing from Suna-nin's who caught me in the middle of an assassination mission of a merchant who swindled money from Kumo for Suna in a bad ore trade. The act alone had the Raikage shouting for war, but the village council had gotten him to calm down enough to settle for the merchant's head.

I had killed the merchant, but I hadn't counted on him having a Jonin three man entourage. After throwing a kunai with deadly efficiency into his neck from my spider hole hidden in the sand, I quickly fled not wanting to deal with three ninja who were higher rank than myself.

As I tried to lose my pursuers – not an easy task in the desert – with smoke and flash bombs, I felt a sudden earthquake that knocked all of us to the ground. Out from the ground, a gigantic monolith of yellow flesh appeared screaming a sharp wail. It cast a foreboding shadow over us as acidic saliva dripped and flew from it's gaping maw lined with razor-sharp teeth. I had to stop myself from yelling in pure surprise and horror, I had never seen such a thing. I was frozen in fear.

But, I felt an even bigger surge of adrenaline than I received from running from my would-be-captors. I couldn't tell at the time it was from fear or excitement.

The Jonin had all but forgotten about me and fled screaming, but not before the worm scrunched for a moment then propelled its massive frame forward and caught the lagging ninja in its mouth. I never even heard a scream from the unfortunate snack. I didn't give the worm a chance to notice me as I quickly turned tail and ran like hell. I never looked back until it's frightful scream faded into a bad memory.

Ever since then, I've had a fascination with monsters and trying to slay them. These spiders might just fall into that category. With any luck, they might even be twenty feet tall!

. . . or maybe ten feet tall. Twenty might be too big to start with. . .

Before I had any more time to reminisce about the past, I heard footfall from the south and looked up to see Sakura running towards the gate. I glanced at the nearby clock in the guard shack and saw it read eight-oh-five. As she neared, I pushed myself off the gate I was leaning on and waved.

She stopped, her breath barely labored as she bowed to me, "Sorry for making you wait."

I shook my head smiling under my mask. "That's alright Sakura-san, you didn't need to hurry. I'm no stickler on promptness. Are you ready to set out?" I asked, pointing with my thumb towards the gate. At least I finally got over my awkwardness talking to the pretty kunoichi.

She smiled at me and nodded. "Mhm, I'm ready, were you able to read the scroll last night?" She asked, walking next to me.

I nodded in response and started walking. "Demonic spiders, sounds like fun to me. I take it you're coming to treat me if I get poisoned? I doubt any villagers would still be alive from the venom now." I asked, tilting my head her way.

"Eh?!" she gasped, her eyes wide, "how did you know I was a medic?"

_Oops, she never did tell me that did she? Must think I'm a stalker or something. . . _I thought, chuckling. "Well, yesterday you called the Hokage sensei, meaning she would be your teacher. Further, Tsunade-sama is regarded as a genius, if not the head, of medical jutsu. So I simply connected the ends." I replied, as we walked under the looming wooden gates.

She laughed and looked forward again. "That makes sense, for a split second I thought you might have been stalking me or something."

I rubbed the back of my head as I laughed nervously, how did I know? But, at least I made her laugh.

The way we planned it, is to take the trip in two days. Deciding it was for the best as we didn't want to run all out and be exhausted when we arrived. The night before was rather . . . awkward. I tried to get to know her a little better, but for some reason she seemed tight lipped about her past. I suppose that's why she always seems so down. Something must be bothering her that ran deep. I decided it wouldn't do to pry, even though my curiosity is an angry little devil.

That next morning, it didn't take us long to get to the village. Before we had gotten within a mile of the town, we circled around to the east, to have the sun to our backs. If the town was occupied with hostiles, it would do us well to have any advantage we could. But something bothered me, as we made our eastern approach, I could smell the town before I saw it. The odor hit Sakura too, making her visibly cringe and gasp.

It was putrid flesh, a smell I'd rather not be acquainted with, but I am.

With a glance and a nod, we both agreed that the village was more than likely wiped out and that we should treat any further investigations as though we were in enemy territory. Once we were within a comfortable distance from the village, we dropped from the tree we landed on and crouched low behind a bush.

From my initial observation, I could see the village looked as bad as it smelled. The mass jumble of wooden huts were quiet and eerily empty. The early morning rays of sunlight shone through the town, illuminating the macabre sights of bodies strewn about. Dried blood lay splattered in a violent, artistic way, over buildings and foliage alike. The bodies of the dead villagers were horribly mangled and torn, their faces still etched in the horror of their deaths. Even from a good hundred feet, I could see it.

Looking over, I saw Sakura look pale – maybe even green. I suppose even being a medical ninja didn't prepare her to see things like this. Then again, this wasn't exactly something _normal. _The scary part of this to me, was that it didn't phase me. Maybe I should see a psychiatrist. . .

"Saitou-san. . . what should we do?" Sakura asked me, her head slightly turned towards me, but her eyes were still glued to the village.

I wondered what the middle of the village looked like, if this was just the outskirts.

"We have to see if anyone is still alive. If not, we can decide then whether or not to proceed. We were hired to protect the village, but it would be pointless if everyone's dead," I started, looking her way, "But. . . having said that, I wouldn't want to leave the _monsters _that did this alive. Who knows when they'll attack again." I was somewhat torn then, my ninja training told me that fighting whatever did this would be foolish if the clients were dead – we may not even get paid if that's the case – but, I knew it would be the right thing to do. Not only to help the spirits of these villagers gain peace, but to stop any further bloodshed.

She nodded in agreement, as she reached down to her worn kunai holster and pulled out a razor sharp kunai. Her face relayed to me she was ready for anything.

I couldn't help but wonder though, if we could stand a chance against man eating spiders?

I shook my head; That wasn't something a ninja of Kumo – _Konoha _– should think about.

"Alright Sakura-san, let's go in nice and quiet." I whispered, as we both used a quick shushin to teleport across the clearing in between the tree line and buildings.

Regaining my sight, I saw I had safely transported to my intended location. As did Sakura across the way. I scrunched my nose, and tried to imagine more pleasant aromas, as a source of the collective stench laid under me. I tried not to look, but couldn't suppress the urge.

It was even worse up close.

In addition to my earlier observations, I could see now the corpse resembled a female mummy. Her skin was extremely dull, almost a bleak grey color. She wore a commoner's yukata, she may have been a farmer at one time. I frowned, feeling horrible for this woman, as I saw her shriveled arms frozen in a defensive stance, trying to stop whatever killed her. Just under her neck and above her breasts, were four fist sized puncture marks that looked cylindrical and penetrated almost three inches into the woman. What even bit her had _big, nasty, sharp-ass, _teeth. If she was alive after getting stabbed, she would have been in excruciating pain as her blood was drained. Or I would assume that's what happened knowing that, for her corpse to be in the condition that it's in, she would of either had to been dead for years, or been drained.

Other corpses that were nearby looked the same, so I had to guess the spiders were using this village as a feeding spot of sorts. Or it could have been a random attack.

"Saitou-san, are you alright?"

I snapped my head up towards Sakura. I'd gotten lost in my thoughts. I just nodded in response and reached behind me to grasp Izayoi's handle. Using a hand sign, I pointed down what looked to be a main street of some sort laid between the buildings we were using as cover.

She nodded back and we both carefully creeped out from around our respectful corners.

The street was way worse than I had imagined it might be. My mind involuntarily played out re-enactments of what these villagers last moments must have been like. Men and women of all ages, even children, were massacred in their homes and businesses. Entryways into buildings had been collapsed in, being knocked in by the monstrous attackers. Many of the villagers hadn't been drained of their blood, rather they were cleaved in two or brutally ripped to shreds. I had to turn my gaze more than once, as I had been used to seeing dead and torn adults, but never kids. One, still held in his mother's headless corpse, had a visage of utter pain as his sternum had been ripped open; his entrails drying out in the sun.

I noticed Sakura stop finally, her eyes locked in horror. I knew what must be going through her head. Probably the same thing that was going through mine.

"What. . . what in Kami-sama's name happened here?" she muttered out, as I watched her iris's shrink in fear and disbelief.

I exhaled sharply through my nose as I turned towards her and fell into a relaxed position. "Kami left this place long ago. Now only demons tread this tainted earth."

She looked at me and just nodded in agreement, leaving her chin touching her chest.

"Sakura-san," I started, wondering if I should say what I was about to, "You can wait in the forest until I've done a sweep of the village. There's no need for you to subject yourself to this." At the end, I knew I said the right thing. This wasn't something anyone should see, let alone a beautiful, innocent, woman.

She shook her head a few times, before meeting my gaze. I was almost take aback by the heated gaze in her bright eyes. Whatever I said, or she thought, seemed to light a fire in her soul. It was beautiful to see, she looked intense when she steeled herself like that.

Gripping her kunai tighter, she marched up next to me, never taking her eyes off mine. "Never." She said, seeming to say it to herself more than me. "I won't _ever _abandon a teammate. No matter what the circumstances are!" She was almost yelling at the end, but something told me her angry outburst wasn't directed at me. Perhaps this was one of the many mysteries that lay hidden in her past.

I smiled at her, the best I could through my mask and nodded. "Good, I'm glad. Now let's keep going, if there are any survivors left they would of built some sort of defensive structure in the center of the village. Or that's what my gut says."

She nodded, not arguing with my logic and we set off again.

The village was larger than I had expected, not nearly the size of Konoha of course, but maybe one of it's districts. I had also noted the town had very little in the way of a layout. There was no distinction between residential and commercial districts, the streets certainly weren't mapped out as they warped and wound around buildings.

As we neared the general vicinity of the town center I noticed that the body count substantially dropped, but I had yet to see any sort of spider corpse. Before long, I stopped Sakura as I noticed a large complex to the northwest, complete with living, breathing guards. It looked like some type of miniature mansion, but not nearly as nice. If I had to guess, it was the magistrate's house.

"Sakura, look, I think we found our clients." I said, pointing in the direction of complex.

She narrowed her eyes and replied, "or our targets . . ."

"Maybe, let's try to approach them normally anyways, they don't seem like they want guard duty." I suggested. The two men standing at the main gate did seem rather unhappy at their current predicament.

"If you think that's wise, I'll go with it."

I nodded in response, "I'll go by myself, you watch from the shadows and back me up if need be. I'll signal you if it's clear."

"Got it."

With that, I jumped off the roof and began walking down the alley I landed in to the road that would put me in clear view of the guards. Making sure my leaf headband was visible, I walked around the corner, hands raised. It didn't take long for the guards to notice me and I saw them visibly pale and start to shake. Once I was within thirty feet of them, one of them shouted.

"I-Identify yourself-f!" he pointed his, rickety at best, spear at me; the tip visibly shaking from the man's nervousness. The other guard followed suite, pointing a spear in no better shape.

I stopped when he shouted and replied, "I am Saitou Kiryu of Konohagakure. I was given a mission to assist this village in fighting off the demonic spiders that are plaguing your town."

The guards clearly looked relived, almost elated as they raised their spears. "I don't believe it! For a while we thought no one would accept the mission!" One guard shouted back.

I took that as my cue to advance and walked closer to the men, "I have a partner as well, she's nearby." Before they could inquire, I raised my hand, and made a 'come-here' motion. Sakura emerged from the alley nearest to me, sheathing her kunai as she walked.

"The ninja from Konoha are here!" The guard yelled in joy, it seemed they'd been riding on our arrival to ensure their survival. Not that I can blame them, what they're up against, no civilian could fight.

Well, that's the end of chapter 2. Sorry for taking a while to update, I've been rather busy lately. If the chapter seems a bit short, it's cause this felt like a good spot to stop.

Then again, judging by my reviews, I've only got one person waiting. . . *HINT HINT* so I apolgize to only SasoLOVE111!

(*) The reason I didn't explain Saitou's outfit was because I felt it would take to long. But I'll do it here!

For quick reference, if any of you have ever played Tenchu Z, you can pretty much imagine the Armored outfit. Not exactly the same, but still.

For those who haven't, he's wearing a dark red yukata and hakama with a dark mesh shirt underneath. His outfit is tied tight around his waist, and at his knees down. The sleeves of the yukata are shoved into his metal gauntlets that cover his fists and up to his elbow. They're not full gauntlets, only covering the forearm.

He has something similar on his feet and shins, metal greaves that only cover the front. Underneath the metal covering his feet, he wears the shinobi sandals, but they're black and have no openings.

On his chest, he's wearing a metal chest plate, similar to what samurai wore. Around his neck he's wearing a black scarf that reaches down past his waist. He also has a face mask like Kakashi's.

I would like to state now that I am not trying to copy the copy-nin, I've always had that face mask on all the ninja's I've created even before Naruto came out.

There, now no one can call me out on it! HA!

Sorry if that was long winded, but it's a detailed outfit. *snaps fingers* That reminds me, he wears his katana, Izayoi, on his back. His kunai/shuriken pouch is on the normal spot(s).

One last fun fact before I shut up. My characters name, Saitou, isn't really spelled right. In translation, it would be Saitô. But I didn't know that when I started using this name for my OC's WAAAAY back when. So, I did what any other twelve year old boy would do, (I'm twenty one now) spell it like I heard it.

I refuse to change it, because I like the way I spelled it and cause having to open the special character menu every time is a pain in the ass.

Thanks for reading! Please review, criticism and even flames welcome!


	3. First Encounter

Hello again all, I'm back again to answer a few questions I was posed in a review and to thank my newest reviewers, ChicFreakSistaFierce and xDarakuxShitaxTenshix

To SasoLOVE111, I seem to of forgotten to slip in somewhere what my OC Saitou looks like. I have a habit of doing that in a 1st person perspective story. His skin is a very light tan, he also has shoulder blade length hair that he keeps back in a ponytail with large loose strands in the front. His eyes are black, with a chiseled jaw (only really visible when his mask is off.) Which brings me to your other question.

He will not be a Kakashi type guy who NEVER takes off his mask – I wonder if he washes it at all? Saitou only wears it while he's in his "ninja outfit". If he's in civilian clothing he won't wear it. He also has no problem removing it when he's in his ninja gear either. There will be an example of this later in the chapter.

To ChicFreakSistaFierce – Thanks for fav'ing me! I'm very glad to get another reader!

To xDarakuxShitaxTenshix – I'm glad you like my fic, and hope you enjoy this chapter too!

As a side note, before I being the chapter I gotta say – it's sometimes _intimidating _how well a lot of authors on this website write. I'll read a story that has like a good 2000 reviews and I'll get not only inspired but discouraged by how amazing they are. Well, that's what practice is for right?

Enough of my drabbing, onto the good stuff.

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The hallways of the complex were full of civilians and militia alike, the smell of death and filth hung heavily in the air like a choking miasma. Violent coughing, pain filled groans and the crying of scared children echoed throughout the complex. I could feel Sakura's want to stop and try to relieve the pain of these people, but there were too many and she had to save her chakra for the upcoming battle. I felt sorry for her, being a doctor and not being able to help someone in pain must be horrible.

Most of the men and women we passed were all covered in dirty and bloody bandages. The unlucky ones were missing appendages and other important body parts. I was sure some of the people slumped against the wall or floor were dead. They all would look up too, as we passed by. I could feel some pride in my heart as I saw them zero in on my Konoha hitai-ate that I equipped to my scarf. I could hear hushed whispers dart between them, all feeling a surge of renewed vigor and hope. The ninja from Konohagakure were here. Even with these mild to grievous injuries and air of hopelessness, many of the militia and civilians began to put on hard, determined faces. All of them ready to fight again for their home.

Sakura and I had been led into a small waiting room, which at one time might have been used to entertain guests. Now, it housed various weapons held by wooden racks. I could also see faint blood stains on the floor and walls, there must have been a battle here for that type of spread. I could even smell a faint hint of the coppery blood. Being in this line of work, it's a smell one becomes used to.

The worst part of this room to me was the lighting. Blood had spilled and caked onto the three medium round windows, causing the sunlight to come in partially red, making the room an eerie orange. It certainly completed the atmosphere of the experience up to this point. I half-wondered if we had actually left our plane and trespassed into a hellish realm.

I looked over to Sakura, I could only guess she might be thinking the same things I was. Her face was mostly neutral, but by the way her lip twitched and her eyes quickly darted from areas in the room to her knees, I guess she wasn't used to this type of thing. It didn't surprise me, Konoha had a reputation for never exposing it's younger ninja to these types of things.

My mouth fell to a grimace as I recalled some of the more gruesome missions I had been on in my career. I'm starting to see the wisdom behind Konoha's reluctance to send young ninjas to bloodbaths. I'll be lucky to get to old age without some severe mental disorder.

"Saitou-sempai, are you alright? You seem to be thinking about something unpleasant."

I looked up towards Sakura, who had her head slightly tilted. I just smiled at her through my mask and shook my head. "I'm fine, thank you for your concern though." Then, a thought crossed my mind as I shifted from the normal kneeling positing to sitting on my rear and crossing my legs. "Also Sakura-san, there's no need to call me sempai, I might be a Jonin but. . ." I trailed off, wondering if what I was about to say next might be foolish.

"But what?" she asked, her curiosity evident in her tone. I swear I even saw a ghost of smile.

I coughed into my hand and hoped that the heat rising to my cheeks was properly protected from view by my mask. "Well. . . I was kinda hoping we could, um . . . be friends?" I was mentally kicking myself the entire time I spoke. I was talking much the way a new academy student would throw kunai: Clumsy and awkward.

Her curious expression soon turned into one of surprise, while I didn't peg it as a bad thing necessarily, I could feel my body heat up as I started to sweat. I felt my palms start to get clammy and I had to resist the urge to rip off my gloves so I could get some air on them. There wasn't a clock in the room, but as I looked into her eyes I could clearly make one out.

She opened her mouth and began to say something when the sliding door behind me crashed open. It made us both jump and myself curse as I rolled to the left and spun mid-roll to greet the intruder with a kunai gripped tightly in my grasp. I was about to let it fly when I saw it was a man of average height clad in bright samurai armor.

"Good reflexes! I would expect nothing less from shinobi of Konohagakure." The man spoke with a joking tone, not realizing the danger of sneaking up on a ninja. We don't pride ourselves on that, but what we _do _however is killing anyone who does.

I let out a annoying sigh as I holstered my kunai, both annoyed at myself for getting snuck up on and for him for interrupting what Sakura was going to say.

The samurai strode into the room with long strides and spoke as he sat on the right side of the small table we'd been at. "I'm glad you got here when you did, I was starting to dread that Konoha wouldn't send aid." He spoke with a raised, jovial voice, seeming to either be ignorant or defiant of his situation.

Now that I wasn't afraid for my life, I was able to get a closer look at the man. He was balding, his only black hair being around his head and he let it grow loose and wild where it reached his shoulders. A ridiculous hairstyle normally, but it rather fit him I suppose. He had a mustache and medium goatee that framed his smirking face. Both were carefully trimmed and groomed. His face was wrinkled but his black eyes betrayed his age. They brightly flamed in the orange glow, making him look younger alone.

His armor was polished brilliantly, it sparkled and shone in the sunlight. At his side, he wore a katana and wakazashi, both with red grips and gold pommels, leading down to golden handle guards nestled in black sheaths.

Sakura bowed to the samurai and spoke in a professional tone. "Please forgive us . . ." she trailed off, looking towards the man expectantly.

The samurai slapped his forehead, berating himself and smiled at her. "Forgive me, it was rude of me to not introduce myself, I am Nagato Migazuchi! Magistrate and commander of this town."

She smiled and bowed again to him, "I am Sakura Haruno, this is my partner Saitou Kiryu." I was happy she refereed to me as an equal, rather than superior.

I bowed my head, looking towards Nagato. "It's a pleasure to meet you Migazuchi-sama."

"Come now, we'll be comrades-in-arms soon! I will never allow any men fighting with me to refer to me as such! Call me Nagato." He spoke, his smile never leaving his face.

I had to admit, it was infectious as I smiled back secretly through my mask.

Sakura too seemed to have caught his virus as she laughed, "As I was saying _Nagato, _we're sorry about taking so long with accepting this mission. We get so many at times that some are accidentally pushed aside."

I looked towards her, actually impressed with her reason. She gave me a quick glance to make sure I understood and I nodded quickly back. It would be bad if we started telling people that Konoha was undermanned and stretched thin. Who knows who's listening in, that information might fall on the wrong ears and spark an invasion.

Nagato nodded, leaning towards her. "That's alright, the important thing is that you arrived before we all became spider food."

I mentally laughed as I noted not only this man's unending cheerfulness, but my female companion's face as she grimaced at his words.

"That being said," he spoke, his face turning semi-serious, "We have only one assault left in us. Should they attack again and you fail, I have no doubt _they'd_ be able to overrun and kill us."

"I don't think that's a problem you have to worry about Nagato, we'll kill these pests. Right Sakura-san?" I asked, punching my right fist into the other palm.

Sakura smiled confidently at me and nodded.

"Confidence is commendable, but do not let it cloud your vision." Nagato lectured, his eyes jaded. "It will take more than a big boot and a paper towel to kill these things. We've only managed to injure a few of the beasts ourselves. Their hides are as thick as a man's arm and strong like steel."

"What can you tell us about these things?" I asked, wanting as much intel on our enemy as I could get.

Nagato frowned, as he looked down at the table. "They are . . . hard to describe. They are unlike anything I've ever seen before in my time." He paused, taking the time to look between us. "These _beasts _are the size of a horse, I've seen them overwhelm a soldier instantly and drain him of his blood in seconds."

I saw Sakura shiver for a moment but quickly stopped herself. I had to repress the urge myself, the idea of it was somewhat frightening.

"The poison they excrete from their fangs is extremely deadly. I've seen all the stages of it."

Sakura looked up, intrigued, and leaned forward. "Tell me what the victim goes through. I'm a medical ninja, if you can describe to me the steps, I might be able to discern what type of venom it is and develop an antidote."

"A medical ninja? Your village is wise to send you here then." He looked towards me, his face clearly worried for me. "If you are poisoned, I pray to Kami you'll be able to be treated quickly. Or, be able to retain enough willpower to kill yourself."

"Glad to know I'd suffer a painless death. . ." I muttered to myself darkly. This man had a way with words. . .

I looked over to Sakura and was almost surprised at how intense her look was as she pulled out a pen an paper from her pack. She clearly was serious about her being a medical ninja.

"The first stage which happens almost immediately after being bit," he started, looking back over at Sakura, "is a complete shock to the victim's nervous system. They'll lose all motor control and start to hallucinate. I've seen some victims even start to scream out what they see."

Sakura was hanging onto his every word as she copied down word for word what he said.

"Then, after about twenty to thirty seconds later, the victim stops breathing and dies of suffocation."

I grimaced, hearing the time lapse between initial injection of the venom and death. "So you basically have less than a minute to be cured after being bit?" I asked, hoping he might of left out a step or two.

Nagato just nodded. "All it takes is a scratch. Almost our entire village was wiped out in the first attack because of this." I could tell as he thought about his village being massacred, he went in between grief and anger. From the bottom of my heart, I truly felt sorry for the man.

"Strange," Sakura started, getting our attention, "I know what kind of venom this is. It's a neurotoxin derived from the taipon snake."

"Snake venom? Why would a spider have that?" I asked, slightly wondering if she knew what she was talking about. Otherwise, the implications of such a thing could only mean these spiders weren't natural.

She nodded her face mirroring my thoughts. "Yes, the snake in question lives in the forest of death. Tsunade-shicho has trained me rather extensively on snake venoms, the way they kill and how to counter it."

"Excellent! So you can create an antidote?" Nagato almost yelled, leaning towards her exuberantly. Judging by the look on her face, she was about to wipe his smile off quick.

"Not unless you have a well stocked herbal supply," she started, watching Nagato sit back down with a sigh. "The plants I need are only grown high in the mountains in Yukigakure."

"So it's hopeless?"

She shook her head slowly, "Not exactly. . . there is one other way – but I'm not sure I can pull it off." She said quickly, to stop Nagato and myself from becoming too hopeful. "There's a medical jutsu that allows one to pull venom from the body by extracting it straight through the blood veins and through the pores of the body. The thing is that it requires an insane amount of control, if I were to use too much chakra I could easily rupture the area I'm trying to extract. I've only ever seen Tsunade-shicho do it. She also told me to try the jutsu if there was no other way, even for her it can be difficult. . ." she trailed off, looking down at the ground.

The room grew silent as we all fully digested the problems this mission was starting to throw our way. Even Nagato, who seemed eternally optimistic when he first entered the room was now downcast. Morale was low, I had to do something. "Well then, all that means is that we have to focus on not getting hit." Easier said than done.

Sakura's face seemed to reflect that, but Nagato laughed, seeming to get out of his funk. "You remind me of my son, more courage than brains!" with that he broke off into a large laugh; even Sakura was giggling. Jerks.

Before we had anymore time to continue our banter, an unholy and high pitched wail penetrated the compound and froze the soul's of anyone within earshot. We all stood, looking around in confusion. It didn't take long for screams to begin outside, they were coming from the front gate!

"That sounded like one of the monsters who attacked the village!" Nagato yelled, ripping his katana from it's wooden sheath.

"Sakura! Stay here!" I ordered as I went to the window, intent to discover the cause of the wailing.

"What? Why?" she asked, moving with me.

I spun around to meet her eyes, trying to convey in my own that I wasn't in any mood to argue with her. I didn't want to pull the rank card, but it looks like I would have to. "We've yet to encounter one of these things. If it proves too strong for me and gets me with it's venom, your the only person who can cure it, or return to Konoha for reinforcements!" I yelled, startling her.

I watched as her mouth twitched into a snarl but quickly set back into place. "Fine, I'll stay here and protect Nagato."

I nodded back to her and turned again, throwing open the window and leaping out into the courtyard below. I tucked and rolled as I landed, not stopping for a moment as I ran straight for the gate where the sounds of slaughter grew louder. Screams coming from dying men could clearly be heard, along with the battle cry of one of those things. Anticipation grew in my heart as I both dreaded and welcomed the chance to battle whatever the hell I was about to encounter. A final wall ahead of me separated myself and the front gate. With a quick chakra surge to my legs, I pushed off my planted foot and felt myself leap high into the air to be greeted by the sight of three bloody corpses and a monstrosity that could only be forged in a nightmare.

Even moving the way I was, I could clearly see the grotesque features of the spider demon. It was black as night, hair covering it's entire carapiece. With it's six legs extended it would easily be a long as twelve feet. It's six eyes were all blood red as it's deadly fangs continuously plunged and ripped away flesh from it's victim, the screaming fading away into a gurgle as he died a horrible death.

I landed a good ten feet away from the creature, my eyes never leaving it's. My appearance drew the beasts attention away from it's kill and straight to me, where I swore I saw the red glow focus onto me. I felt beads of sweat start to collect at my temple as I was affected by primal fear down to my core. I swallowed it as best I could however, knowing that any hesitation or doubt could lead to my death. My hand flashed to Izayoi and pulled it free of it's scabbard, the loud sound of it's cry ringing through the area.

The spider began to click it's fangs together, as to threaten me with certain death. It slowly stepped over a few feet to the left, as to better situate itself to strike.

I took a deep breath as I calmed myself and started to shut out all other sounds and feelings. The sounds of the panicked villagers lulled away. The glare from the sun grew dim. The feeling of the wind and the smell of the putrid village became more clear as I tuned into my senses. Now, all I could hear was the sound of my own breathing and the clicking of the spider's fangs.

The only warning I got for it's attack was a tensing of it's frame and a split second later it launched itself forward at an amazing speed I could barely keep up with. I was however, to the dismay of my attacker, able to jump forward to the ground and roll under the abnormal spider as it soared harmlessly overhead. Coming out of my roll, I turned back towards it with my sword held at my side. I tightly gripped it as I waited for the next attack.

The spider screamed another cry, displeased I was able to avoid it. Much like an enraged fighter, it leaped again without thinking. This time, I had a plan. At the last possible second I ducked the attack and held my sword straight up with the handle near my head. Bracing Izayoi with my left hand against the lower back of the blade, I grunted as I held on with all my might as the beast met steel. It's own forceful jump propelled itself across my katana and cut most of the thing in half. The thorax of the beast was too large for my sword to completely cleave, but it was dead before it even reached that part.

The corpse of the demon flew another good foot before landing with a wet, sick thud and rolled another five feet before it's legs twitched a few times and curled inwards.

I let out a breath I hadn't realized I was holding and wiped my forehead with the back of my gauntlet. I had killed the thing. I chided myself however, as I quickly tuned again to the sounds around me. I couldn't relax yet, there could be more. But, only the frantic sounds of the house behind me were all the penetrated my field of hearing.

Falling out of my battle stance, I looked down at Izayoi and scrunched my nose in disgust as I saw both the thing's foul blood and some yellow silk sticking to her. I must of ruptured the sack that held the material. I could also feel some blood trickling down my skull and my shoulders. I knew I wasn't injured, so I shuddered at having it's blood on me. Sure, I've had human blood splattered onto me before, but at least it didn't stink like rotten meat or come from a disgusting species.

"Saitou-san!" I heard behind me, it was a collective yell of villagers and the two people I was familiar with. Turning, I offered a simple wave and hidden smile.

"Kami's beard! You slew the fiend!" Nagato yelled, running to me, his eyes glued onto the spider. I almost wanted to laugh at his antics and shock.

"If it breathes, it bleeds and dies like everything else." I replied, feeling a nice shot of pride get injected into my ego. I knew it was bad to get used to it, but not so bad to enjoy it.

I could hear the shocked gasps of the villagers behind me as well, along with – what I had to guess – whispers of gratitude to the Konoha shinobi.

"You killed it with your sword I take it?" Nagato asked, eying the large gash that cleanly cut the beast down it's midsection. After seeing my nod he took a closer look at my sword in wonder. "What is it forged from? My militia uses spears crafted from the finest steel, but it couldn't pierce the things.

I looked down at Izayoi and shrugged, then turning it upside down in my grasp I slammed the tip through the concrete and into the ground, shocking the magistrate. "This sword has been passed down through my family for generations. My father told me that at one time we had a family scroll that listed all the sword bearers in the past." I said, kneeling down to the sword, gaining the interesting looks of everyone present. " It was lost in a fire, during my great grandfather's time, but it's rumored that this sword was forged hundreds of years ago." I gently placed my right hand along the handled and stroked it once, remembering the stories my parents used to tell me. The courtyard seemed to grow silent as all ears were given to me."The legend, however states that it was forged even longer ago than that."

"They say that thousands years ago, before ninja and even recorded history, a great and terrible dragon, Gouyokuryu, rampaged the lands, killing and burning the land indiscriminately. The people of the land begged and prayed to the Goddess Amaterasu to slay the beast. Hearing the heartfelt cries of her people, she commanded Raijin, the god of thunder, to descend from heaven to slay the dreaded dragon."

As I spoke, I could start to hear my father's deep voice overlap my own in my head. I had been told this legend hundreds of times, and I loved it more each time I heard it. "Raijin found Gouyokuryu fighting a single human male, who stood no chance against the beast, but fought bravely for his village. Raijin intervened before the killing blow could be landed on the young warrior and fought a terrible battle with Gouyokuryu that lasted days. At the end of it, Raijin stood over the defeated dragon and plunged his sword through it's head to finish it off."

"But, that's not the end. So moved was the God by the humans strength, cunning, and valor in battle, he tore from the dragons mouth a gigantic fang and returned to heaven with it. There, he was said to forge this, Izayoi, and returned to earth to grant the human the weapon of a god." As I trailed off, I quickly went through a special set of hand signs, ending with dragon. Thrusting my hand out, I grasped Izayoi and I felt chakra rush into the blade and ignited it with lightning that danced around the blade, destroying any clinging silk and blood.

Holding the crackling, clean blade in front of me I looked into Nagato's eyes and smiled. Then, mentally I dismissed the flow of chakra to the blade and the lightning ceased. I returned the blade back to it's sheath and crossed my arms. "Or, that's how the legend goes anyways. It's a nice tale."

"Your ancestor was the human wasn't he?" I heard a familiar female voice ask. I looked over and saw Sakura descending the stairs, with an interested look on her face.

"Yes, if the legend is true."

Nagato snorted and slapped my back, making me grunt. "Regardless if the legend is real or not, someone has finally spilled the blood of one of those dammed beasts!"

Then, from the house cheers began to rise over the crowd. "The ninjas from Konoha are going to save us!" They yelled.

Both Sakura and myself just meekly blushed and I scratched the back of my head. I could only hope that we wouldn't disappoint them. If we did. . . well I didn't want to think of the consequences as I looked over the tired, but hopeful wounded villagers. They looked so much happier than before when we first arrived. It made me feel truly good about myself and being a ninja. Being able to help and give people this sort of hope was beyond words or reward.

"Saitou-san," I heard Sakura call, garnering my attention, "good job taking that thing down." She praised me with a sweet smile.

All my earlier advances in getting past my bashfulness was shattered there and then as I noticed how amazingly cute she could be when she did that. "I-I . . . uhm . . ." I sputtered out feeling more and more heat rise to my face as I continued to embarrass myself.

"But," she started again, her voice switching to a deadly one that scared me, "Please don't leave me behind again, I'm not some dead-weight kunoichi that can't fight."

Ah, that. I didn't think ahead when I told her to stay behind. I'm not surprised she was angry with me. "I'm sorry Sakura-san, but I – " I started.

"Is it because I'm a girl?" she blurted out, interrupting me. Judging by how she had her fists balled up and on her hips, she was angry. Not to mention her eyes seemed to be attempting to immolate my soul.

"Wha-? _No! _It's not that at all! I just –!" I was interrupted again by howling laughter coming from Nagato and the villagers who were obviously enjoying our banter.

"Chauvinist!" she yelled out, her cheeks red, probably embarrassed by the crowds laughter. Then, she stomped off into the complex, the steam almost visible from her ears.

But, to me the crowd's laughter was the furthest thing in my mind. Echoing off the walls of my head was her hurtful insult repeating over and over again, louder each time. It was like some horrible genjutsu that I couldn't escape as I stood paralyzed by it. I was somewhat returned back to earth by a slap to my back.

"Well, that's women for you. Easily controlled by rage and misunderstandings." Nagato laughed.

I just shook my head not wanting to even think ill towards any woman, especially Sakura, after taking the blunt of her wrath; misguided as it was.

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Whoo, another chapter done! Sorry for the long wait, but in between work and a bad case of writers block (video games don't help either . . .) I wanted to take my time and not rush this chapter.

For this chapter, I used my friend the internet and researched spider anatomy. * shudders heavily * I'm a _violent _arachnaphobic. I kill any spider on sight. It was also really fun to "invent" the legend about Izayoi and Saitou's ancestors. And before anyone asks, no he is not a demi-god or anything like that.

Sorry, just used to people freaking out on over powered OC's. I took the names from Shinto mythology, except for Gouyokuryu which is name I made. It means Greed Dragon. Gouyoku being greed and Ryu being dragon.

As a final note, I have to say I'm rather surprised at how my only reviewers have been female. I wonder if that's because of Sakura? I noticed she's very popular with girls. Not that it's a bad thing of course, I think it's rather cool, seeing as how I want to become a action/romance novelist. Also, to save my own skin the aforementioned comment made by Nagato is not shared by the author of this story. I'm not so eager to part with my head to say or think something like that with females reading my story.

Peace out till the next chapter!


	4. Hiatus

Hey, sorry for making anyone think this was an actual chapter. I'd like just announce that I'm going to be putting this story on hiatus. I've had some rather bad personal problems in the last two weeks and as such I've lost all focus and direction on this fic. I may not write on it again, or I might update in two weeks.

I just wanted to thank all the people who read and reviewed my story, along with an apology for stopping so early in this story.

In the meantime, until I get to writing this again, I might be working on another Naruto fic to clear my head. Keep an eye out on my profile if you're interested in it. Again, thank you all.

Shinobi no Ryu


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